The Potions Partners
by Orion Tarvers
Summary: When Hermione and Blaise are assigned to be Potions Partners she's unsure of how to approach him. Hermione wants to know what is going through his mind and he seems intent on throwing her mixed messages.
1. The beginning

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Alrighty, this is going to be a mulit-chap fic but I don' know how long it's going to be.**

**Hope you like it!**

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"Si…? Prego?" Hermione stared at the boy sitting in front of her and held back a sigh. Of all the people she could have been partnered with it had to be him.

"Huh?" She felt her cheeks heat and looked down at the desk that separated the two. 'Way to go, Granger. Why didn't you just take a third language course like your parent's told you to?' she silently berated herself as she tried to follow up on her less than stellar opening statement. "I'm sorry, what?" she tried again, glancing up from beneath her lashes to see the Italian born wizard watching her with an unreadable expression on his face.

"I'm sorry; I didn't realize my slip of the tongue. Yes, can I help you?" He apologized when her language skills continued to fail her.

"Umm…" she cringed at the tone of her voice but continued, "We're partners." She finished when she felt her voice was steady again.

"Are we?" he asked before his indigo eyes flickered up to the black board, where their names were listed together in Snape's slashing handwriting.

"Yes." She answered unnecessarily when his gaze returned to hers.

She cleared her throat when he leaned back languidly in his chair, a Slytherin trait that seemed to be engrained in all of them at an early age. He smiled lazily up at her before motioning for her to sit in the empty seat next to him. She nodded and sat down, unpacking her cauldron and the ingredients she'd collected before approaching him.

"You have everything for the potion?" surprise in his voice.

"I believe in being prepared." She stated simply, her gaze wandering around the classroom to find Harry and Ron both looking at her mouthing questions. "Honestly." She huffed as she looked back at her table and opened her book to the correct page to begin to prep for the ingredients.

"I can see that."

She gave him a sharp look before slicing the newt tongue into paper thin slices on the bias.

"You know, most girls would be cringing at the mere thought of slicing the tongue of a newt." Blaise informed her as he opened a jar of Demiguise hair and added three while stirring clockwise three times. "I would have done that." He continued when she didn't answer, her attention focus completely on the task at hand.

"Mmm." She hummed in agreement as she looked up at the clock to see the exact time before she added three slivers of the tongue and stirred the caldron counter clockwise five times in fifteen seconds before adding three more slivers and continuing the process until the tongue was completely incorporated.

They worked in silence for a quarter of an hour before the boy beside her cleared his throat to get her attention. He continued the action until she looked up with annoyance etched in her face.

"What? This is a critical point in the potion." She said crossly as she continued to stir the caldron in a slow steady rhythm.

"I am capable of stirring, Granger." Blaise chuckled when she seemed to start ignoring him again.

"Mmm." She commented again before gasping when the rod was taken from her hand as he began the motions. "What are you doing? A change in pace could completely ruin the potion." She hissed when he threw a smile at her, taking his eyes off of the bubbling potion in progress that was currently on a pedestal directly in front of them.

"You're Gryffindor friends have been trying to get your attention for the past five minutes. It was beginning to grate on my nerves, Bella." He answered with a put upon sigh.

Hermione looked away from the young wizard sitting next to her and focused on her friends, who looked relieved that she'd finally looked up. Harry began mouthing a question to her when they were interrupted.

"Mr. Potter, I do believe I said no speaking in class." Professor Snape's oily voice penetrated the otherwise silent classroom.

"I didn't say anything, sir." The formal address dripped with sarcasm and Hermione held her breath as she glanced up to the front of the room, where the 'bat of the dungeons' stood behind his desk, an eyebrow raised and his lips curling to revile yellow teeth.

"Are you saying I'm hearing things, Mr. Potter?" She cringed at the unsaid challenge that had just been issued and closed her eyes when she heard whispering begin.

"Just don't say anything." She chanted under her breath, praying that Harry would some how hear and take heed of her advice.

"I'm saying that I wasn't speaking." Harry answered with stubbornness in his voice.

Hermione silently groaned and opened her eyes to see Professor Snape smile, a sight that made her shutter with uneasiness.

"It seems that your friends aren't the brightest." The boy beside her said with a sneer.

Hermione looked at him with narrowed eyes before giving her full attention back to the scene that was unfolding in the potions room.

"What was that Potter?" the tone of his voice didn't bode well with Hermione and she began to gather her thing, not putting them away but getting them ready for quick shelving if the need arose. She hoped that Harry wouldn't answer but it seemed nothing was to go her way.

"I said that I wasn't speaking." He repeated stressing each word.

"Everyone bottle your potions as they are and put the flasks on my desk then clean your work stations and leave. No, Mr. Potter, do not move." The order was given in a calm voice and Hermione was already standing with half of the potions ingredients in her hands.

She was the first to arrive to the store room and placed the bottles in there proper place before making her way back to her desk and packing up her belongings. She gave a warning look to Harry as she walked out into the dank hallway and began to walk to the common room.

"It seems you're without an escort." She heard from beside her when she began walking up the stairs that would bring her to ground level.

"What are you talking about?" she asked with a huff. She was silently fuming at Harry and his actions. If he hadn't gotten in trouble he would be walking with her instead of…him.

"Well Weasel-Bee isn't here and Potter is most likely being given a tongue lashing." He clarified.

"Ron is waiting for Harry"

"So the trio is growing apart?" He asked with curiosity, earning a snort from Hermione. "Not very ladylike."

"What do you want?" she asked when they were at the foot of the stairs outside the Great Hall that would lead her to the many stairways it took to reach the tower.

"What makes you think I want something?" he asked with a wounded expression on his face, a look she didn't trust one bit.

"If you don't want something than why are you talking to me?" she ground out when he stared at her with curiosity.

"Who say's I don't find you incredibly intriguing?" he asked with a raised brow, a small smile playing on his lips.

"Then why do you find me incredibly intriguing?" she asked with a sigh.

"Who say's I find you incredibly intriguing? I was simply asking a hypothetical question." He shrugged off her with his indifference.

"I think I've wasted enough of my time." She practical snarled before she turned away from him and practically flew up the steps.

Damn him. He'd made a leading comment and then waited for her to step into the twisted trap he'd set. It was infuriating to think that he'd bested her. She thought of stopping off at the library but then remembered that he usually frequented the usually deserted place and could just imagine getting comfortable then having the chair across from her dragged out from under the table before someone sat heavily in it, something he did more frequently than not when they were in the library together.

"You aren't the least bit curious anymore?"

With a groan she Hermione turned around and found herself face to face with Blaise. "I'm very good and controlling my curiosity." She informed him with a lift of her chin.

"Really? I seem to remember hearing about you being petrified because of your curiosity. You've almost been bitten by a werewolf because of your curiosity. You've been linked to many break-ins in the restricted section of the library, I'm assuming because of your curiosity. You've…"

"What are you, a detective?" she snapped as she picked up speed.

"This isn't a large school, Granger. Things do get around." He informed her with a smirk on his face. She stayed silent when he expected an answer from her and simply looked at him with an expressionless face. "You're not denying your involvement with the library break-ins."

"I didn't break in." she finally said when he simply raised an eyebrow at her and his smile grew.

"Are you sure? When you were there, it was after hours and against the wished of Madam Pince. Now correct me if I'm wrong but a break-in is basically trespassing and trespassing is an unlawful act committed on the property of another, especially a wrongful entry. Or there is another, an unwarranted or uninvited incursion."

"What are you," she snapped, her already thin patience snapping in to little bits "a walking dictionary?"

"No, that is your title." He corrected her.

"Well I never." She said indignantly, sticking her chin out and turning away from him.

"Yes you have. Don't go pretending like you've never been called that before, I've heard your 'friends' say worse to you." Hermione heard the stress on the word friends and stiffened instantly. "Ah, hit a nerve?"

"They say that in a friendly way, not that you would understand." She spat at him, swinging back around to face him.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" he asked with a scoff.

"You're second running in the walking dictionary category. Read between the lines and figure it out."

With that being said Hermione quickly walked away from the stunned Slytherin and made her way to the Gryffindor common room in record time. Walking in she spotted Ron sitting on the couch and made her way over to him.

"Where is Harry?" she asked when she took a seat on the cushion next to him.

"He's still with Snape." He answered in a tone that was somewhere between disgust and sympathy.

"I would have thought you'd still be waiting there."

"No. I would have been but Snape walked into the hallway and said he'd give anyone who stayed a detention with Filch." Ron explained with an upset look.

"I'm surprised you didn't risk it or…" she looked around the common room to make sure no one was near them and was dismayed to find Seamus sitting on the arm of the couch "forget it." She sighed before leaning back into the couch.

"Forget what?" Ron asked, as usual not following her completely.

"Nothing, I'll tell you later." She waved off his question with a pointed look to their fellow Gryffindor perched on the couch.

"Oh, hey Seamus. Why later?" He asked her when Seamus answered back with a 'hey' of his own.

Hermione blew out a frustrated breath and stood up to go up to her room. "boys." She muttered under her breath as she stomped up the stairs. She was head girl this year and had her own bedroom in the tower and was grateful for it in times like these.

"Honestly. 'Oh, hey Seamus'." She mocked with a glare at her closed door.

"Talking to yourself again, deary?" Hermione cringed at the voice and blew out a long breath before turning to face the voices owner. "Really, the way you walk around talking to yourself, it's not wonder there is never a boy in here."

"Could you please be quite for a second, I am trying to think." She said polity to the woman who was looking back at her from the mirror.

"Think? It's all you ever do." She made the accusation before she rolled her eyes and disappeared, leaving Hermione with a clear view of herself. She turned away and went to her bed.

She flung herself onto her bed and closed her eyes with a groan. She needed sleep but had a Head's meeting with the Head Boy Theodore Nott, a Slytherin. She had been nervous before she met him, he was a Slytherin after all, but it soon vanished after they'd both pulled all nighters in their common room for the same class but hadn't spoken to each other about it. The next day, after the test and many yawns on both parts, they decided to study together, no matter if they weren't in the same classes at the same time, to help eliminate missing information. It was now usual to meet every Tuesday and Thursday regardless if there was a test the next day, something Harry and Ron weren't too overjoyed with.

"Hermione." she heard a muffled voice call before someone began pounding on her door.

"What?" she called back, not hiding the annoyance in her voice, although its venom was probably lost on whoever was on the other side.

"Hermione!" the voice and pounded returned.

"Wait a minute." She yelled back, contemplating if she should let whoever it was in or just crack the door open. She had her decision made for her when she opened the door slightly and had it pushed open.

"What is my brother ranting about down there?" Ginny Weasley, who looked rather annoyed at said brother, asked as she nudged Hermione out of the way and taking the Head Girls place on the bed, pulling a pillow from beside her to shove under her head.

"I wouldn't know Ginny. I have to get ready for a meeting with Theodore soon, could you leave so I could get ready. Please." She added when the ginger haired girl simply stared at her.

"Your meeting isn't for a half an hour."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked sharply.

"Everyone knows that you leave at the same time for the same thing every Tuesday and Thursday." Ginny said with a shrug, although Hermione didn't see how she could shrug with so many pillows behind her.

"What do you mean everyone knows?"

"Well…everyone knows." The younger girl said slowly, giving Hermione and odd look.

"Who's everyone?"

"I don't know everyone."

"Will you stop being so vague, Ginny?" Hermione demanded more than asked when the other girl looked at her blankly.

"I am not being vague. I am just answering your questions."

"I'm leaving now." Hermione stated before she gathered her rucksack and headed for the door. "Don't touch anything and let yourself out…soon" She threw over her shoulder before she shut the door and walked down the stairs, through the common room and down the steps.

"Well look who's finally shown up." She heard as she rounded the corner of the hallway that held the tapestry that concealed the opening for the common room.

She moaned and turned around, her hand automatically going to her hip.

"That's not a very nice way to greet someone." Blaise admonished her with a tsk.

"What do you want?" she asked the sigh implied afterwards.

"Maybe I just want to talk to you." He shrugged.

She remained silent, remembering the recent question and answer session they held not even half an hour ago.

"Well you're taking the fun out of it." He said with a huff, a smile forming on his face.

"Sorry for your disappointment." She said sweetly as she let her hand drop from her side and straightened. "I'll just be going now so you can plan your next attack."

"I am not attacking you."

"You are annoying me I consider it the same thing."

She was surprised when he laughed, his head flying back in his amusement. She narrowed her eyes after the initial shock wore off and prepared for whatever he would say back to her.

"You are a sharp one, Hermione Granger. I'll give you that." He said with a shake of his head before he turned and walked away. "See you next potions class." he called over his shoulder after he'd rounded the corner.

She stared at the corner he'd disappeared behind for a few seconds before she turned around and walked the two dozen or so steps that had her draw even with the tapestry.

"Proxie Doxie." She said clearly after a glance down the hallway to ensure Zabini had actually left.

The tapestry began to unravel from the right side and along the bottom. She watched as the rectangular wall hanging turned into an ever shrinking square and walked through the opening in the wall that materialized when the tapestry had disappeared completely.

"I thought you'd never show up." A voice said from the couch as she walked out of the small hallway that led to the common room.

"I'm fifteen minutes early." She informed him while she took a seat in a comfortable chair that stood next to the fire.

"oh." She looked at him oddly before turning her attention to the fire. "What happened to Potter?"

"I don't know. Ron was going to find out but Professor Snape threatened everyone with detention if they stayed outside of the classroom." She explained with a shrug, her attention landing on him.

"mmm." He answered with a nod, his sandy blond hair falling into his eyes at his action. "How is it working with Zabini?" he asked after a small silence.

"He's an odd one." She answered after some thought, unsure of how to approach it. They didn't really talk about Slytherins so she wasn't sure were Theodore stood on the subject of Blaise.

"At least I'm not the only one." He answered with a laugh. Hermione relaxed instantly and joined his laughter.

"Has he always been like that?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

"No, not always. He was rather normal up until fifth year. He came back from summer break and just shut up, kept to himself." He explained with a shrug.

"What was he like before that?" she asked, bracing her hands on the arms of the chairs, lifting herself up and drawing her legs beneath herself.

Theodore looked at her with a raised eyebrow and smirked before answering her. "I don't know he was quiet but not as much as he is now."

"Could have fooled me." She muttered under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." She answered quickly, looking down at the carpet to hide her blush, something she had for some unknown reason.

"Anyways, I never really hung out with his crowd so I don't know how much he's changed. I just know what I've seen and how I remember him being from the little contact I had with him."

She tried to think back to something that had happened during the summer after fifth year or during fifth year that would have affected him like that. She ruled out the occurrence at the Ministry immediately, there had been no Zabinis there. There was nothing that jumped out at her but then that was two years ago, she could have forgotten about something small that she might have just glanced over in the Daily Prophet.

"Alright, enough about Zabini. Have you heard anything about the Charms exam coming up?" he asked, effectively changing the subject.

"I don't know the specifics but I think we're going to be asked to turn a white tea cup into mouse then back into a tea cup with roses a turtle around the base."

"For someone who doesn't know the specifics you've given me a very good description."

She turned pink and gave a sheepish smile. "I've talked to people that have graduated."

"And they all say the same thing?" he asked, surprise in his voice.

"No, not exactly, but I have found a pattern. There are really seven only advanced charms exams for midterm, there each given once every seven years."

"How do you know this?" Theodore asked as he tilted his head.

"I've done some research."

"You are the nosiest person I think I've ever met." He said with a smirk.

"I am not nosy." She defended herself indignantly, her mind racing back to the conversation she'd had with Zabini in the hallway and scoffed. "I am not nosy." She repeated with conviction.

"If you say so." He said sarcastically as he put his hands up in front of him as if to ward off a verbal attack from her as well as a physical, which made her snort in amusement. "I've never known you to repeat yourself." He then pointed out with a grin.

Hermione rolled her eyes but gave him a strained smile. Sometimes he knew her better than Harry and Ron; it was nice being able to have a conversation with someone that didn't revolve around Quidditch. In the beginning of the year she had thought that she'd fancied him but had quickly gotten over that when she'd sat down and talked to him about the 'welcome back' ball that Headmistress McGonagall had given permission for. He was a nice boy and she liked talking to him but he was more a brother to her, like Harry and Ron.

"What time is it?" she asked slightly irritated at his grin.

He glanced at his watch and looked back up at her. "I'm not telling you, you'll just say 'oh I have to go to the library before dinner.'"

She pursed her lips and was tempted to send a glare to him but didn't, knowing he'd just laugh her off.

"So what is your back up about?" he asked when she turned away from him and looked at the mantel above the fireplace.

"My back isn't up." She denied instantly, grimacing as soon as the words left her mouth.

"You're snappish, you've repeated yourself… I'd say there was something wrong."

"You'd also say that Macbeth and Hamlet are the same thing with different names." She threw.

"Touché."

They sat and talked about midterms until he stood and stretched and moved towards the door.

"Where are you going?" she asked at his sudden movements.

"dinner." He called over his shoulder as he walked through the hallway. "You have a visitor."

"What do you mean I have a visitor?" she asked more to herself than Theodore and whoever else was there. She got up and made her way to the 'door'.

"Hello Hermione." she heard as she walked up to the open archway.

"Oh, it's you." She said flatly before walking into the hallway. "I'll see you later, Theodore." She smiled at the slightly shorter Slytherin before walking away, hesitating only slightly at the sound of a deep chuckle behind her.

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	2. Dinner and the Library

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Hermione made it to the hall in time to secure her usual seat, to the right of Harry, across from Ron and to the left of Neville. They all smiled at her when she sat down but returned to the topic they were discussing avidly before she came in.

"I'm telling you, their up to something." Ron said as his fist hit the table with a loud thud, causing many strange looks from those around him

"I'm almost scared to ask what he's talking about." She whispered to Harry with a smile, used to Ron's theatrics.

"Slytherins." Harry answered in a serious tone and effectively wiping the smile off of her face.

"We've gone all year without getting in a fight with the Slytherins." She reminded them and hoped that would defuse any thoughts of whatever Ron had on is mind.

"_You've_ gone all year without getting in a fight." Ron muttered loud enough for her to hear, true to his style.

"What do you mean _I've_ gone all year?" she asked sharply and turned narrowed eyes to Harry, who cringed and refused to look at her.

"Nothing." The ginger haired boy answered quickly as if trying to erase his error.

"It was you two." She said suddenly as she pointed an accusing finger at Ron then Harry, who both looked down at the table and hunched their shoulders.

"Neville helped."

Hermione looked at the boy in question and sighed with something close to disgust when he, too, couldn't meet her eyes. She had planned on asking Harry about Professor Snape's punishment but those thoughts were now well and dead at the new information being presented.

"They were in the Hospital wing for weeks." She hissed.

"They had it coming."

"This isn't 'Chicago', Ron. And if you remember correctly, even if it is you'd be in prison."

"An all woman's prison?" he asked in confusion.

"Why do I even talk to you anymore?" she asked Ron with a roll of her eyes.

Hermione tsked, watched as the food materialized onto the table and then filled her plate, giving her friends a stern look.

"It's not like we set out to do it or anything." Ron defended when she began to eat in silence, his mouth already full of some undistinguishable food.

"You gave them all beaks and tails then knocked them unconscious and put them on the quidditch pitch." She hissed in complete shock that Ron was trying to spin a good light on what the three of them had done.

Ron didn't respond and she was thankful, she was likely to explode if he made another comment, good or bad. She ate in silence, making it as uncomfortable as possible for the three boys sitting on either side of her and across from her.

"You're not really mad, are you?" Ron asked while they ate dessert.

"Ron, I'd really let the matter rest." Harry advised when Hermione dropped the spoon she had been eating her ice cream with onto the table.

"I'd listen to Harry, Ron." Neville agreed when Hermione looked at him.

"Well, I just figured she'd be happy. I mean we practically did her a favor." Ron continued while he waved off Harry and Neville's attempts to silence him.

"You practically did me a favor?" she asked to stunned to raise her voice.

"They haven't been nearly as bad to you, or anyone, since it happened."

"Did you ever stop to think, Ronald, that that just means they are plotting something to get you back?" She asked as she leaned across the table to get closer to him.

"I guess I never thought about it that way." He answered quietly while going pale and suddenly glancing over to the house in question and regaining some of his confidence. "No, that couldn't be it. That was ages ago."

"Just be careful, I don't want any house points lost because of house rivalry." She warned as she picked her spoon back up and began eating again.

"Do you know something? Did they tell you what their going to do?" Ron asked while pushing his plate of cake aside, something that had Hermione groaning. He never opted for talking over eating unless it was to talk about something that was against any or all rules.

"No, Ron, they haven't told me anything." she assured him after finishing her last bite. "Even if they did I wouldn't tell you. It would make you think twice before doing something like that again." She continued as she stood and waved goodbye to those she knew and a few she didn't.

"So do you know or not?" Ron asked with impatience in his voice.

"I will be in the library if you need me for something." She said in answer before she gave Harry a hug as well as Neville and raised a brow at Ron as she walked out of the Great Hall and made the well traveled path to the library.

She gave a relieved sigh when the libraries large oak doors came into view. Even before she'd come to Hogwarts she had always gone to the library so seek peace and quiet. She reached the doors and pushed them open, waving at Madam Pince. She'd learned in the middle of her first year that the older woman took all of her meals in the library with the exception of holidays, where she ate dinner with the usual few people that stay for the break. Hermione walked over to what she now considered 'her table' and sat down to see what books she'd left the day before, something Madam Pince had been against the first couple of times but soon agreed with. She picked up a book that was atop one of the few piles on the desk.

"Fancy meeting you here." She heard as she turned a page in the book.

"Go away." She answered without looking up. She knew the voice and refused to look up to see his smirking face. Now she knew how Harry felt in their second year when Slytherins showed up on the quidditch pitch when it was scheduled for Gryffindor. He was invading her space.

"My, my, the kitten has claws." He murmured before the chair across from her was pulled out and a body slumped into it.

"I'm trying to study." She snapped as she finally looked up at the smirking Blaise Zabini.

"I can see that." He acknowledge with a nod of his head.

"That means I want to be left alone."

"Then you should have said that in the first place, I'm rather comfortable now."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at him and pursed her lips, not amused by his antics. He, it seemed, disagreed because he simply smiled lazily at her and threw an arm over the back of his chair.

"I have heard it is unhealthy to spend all of your time in one place. You become immune to the diseases in the place you occupy mainly but you get sick almost as soon as you step out of that place. I'm surprised you're not sick all of the time." He lectured her while she marked her place in the book and closed it.

"There's never been a study done like that and if there has been I am sure that the researchers never intended their findings to be applied to a school's library." She informed him with an overly patient voice.

"I am not a child so please to treat me as one." He grumbled as he lifted his arm from the back of the chair, flexed his fingers and folded his arms in front of his chest.

"If you wouldn't act like one I wouldn't have to treat you like one." She returned with heat, tossing her hair over her shoulder following the statement.

He rolled his eyes and let his arms drop, one into his lap and the other gone over the back of the chair again. He looked at her intensely as if studying her appearance to find out something.

"What?" she asked when he continued to stare at her.

"I didn't say anything." He answered with a shrug though his gaze never wavered.

"I didn't say you did." She countered.

"You said 'what' and in many situations that would imply you thought I asked a question, which I didn't, and I was correcting you."

Hermione stayed silent and picked her book again, throwing a glare at the Slytherin sitting across from her.

"That isn't a very nice look." He commented dryly when she had been reading a few minutes.

"It wasn't meant to be, I can assure you." She responded with a strained voice, upset that he had distracted her and she'd lost her place in the book, something Harry and Ron probably thought impossible by now.

"I'm sorry, I made you lose your place didn't I?" he asked, noticing her scanning the page she'd already read.

"Why are you here?" she asked snapping the book shut and tossing it onto the table in front of her.

"The wonderful conversation?" He shrugged with a smirk. "You should get that vein in your forehead checked. I've noticed it is more pronounced when you are aggravated, it can't be healthy."

Hermione could feel heat rush to her cheeks and was tempted to get up and walk to the tower but knew she'd have to face Harry and Ron and for some odd reason she thought this would be the lesser of two evils.

"You don't talk much, do you?" he asked while she was weighing her options.

"I speak in good company." She answered with what she hoped was an indifferent voice and face.

"That's good, almost believable. Tell me, are Gryffindor's given a class that disables their ability to lie?" he asked with a serious expression on his angular face.

"No, it's the Slytherins given the class that disables their consciences." She threw back with scorn.

"If it weren't true that would hurt." He answered with a smile showing off straight white teeth that left Hermione slightly envious. Her parent's were dentists and she never felt her teeth were quite perfect enough for their standards. They would probably put his picture on the wall if they ever saw him smile. "You are very tense right now." He commented with a shake of his finger. "It's not healthy to be that tense."

"I believe we've already discussed this." She said tightly.

"No, we have discussed you're weakened immune system." He corrected in a soothing tone, although his smirk took a lot of the meaning out of it.

"I do not have a weakened immune system and I am not tense. Now if you would please leave so I can continue my studying…" she trailed off with a pointed look towards the massive doors of the library.

"How can you study without having a piece of parchment to write on?" he asked with a lifted brow.

Hermione narrowed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, folding her arms and just resisting the urge to poke out her bottom lip. She would like to answer by hexing him but knew that that type of action would draw unwanted attention from the Library moderator, that and she would still be potions partners with him. Something she still thought of with a grimace.

"Do you often stare out into space?" he asked, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"That is none of your business." She said as she straightened and let her arms rest on table.

"We're potions partners, if you haven't forgotten." He informed her, as if she could forget. She stared at him in suspicion for a few seconds before dismissing his comment as mere coincidence. Snape wouldn't have taught legitimacy to students unless he had the Headmistresses permission and Hermione highly doubted she gave it. "I would rather now if you are prone to let your mind wander. It is good to be informed of things like that should I have to take over for you at a moments notice."

She could feel her face heat in indignation at his comment and had just opened her mouth when she was interrupted by Harry and Ron.

"Hermione, can you help us with our Charms work?" Harry asked, holding up a charms book and giving a questioning look to Hermione while nodding his head a Blaise.

"Well I can tell when I'm not wanted." Blaise said with a dramatic sigh while standing up.

"Going so soon?" she asked innocently, her eyes widening to keep up the part when the Slytherin gave her an eyebrow raised.

"I'll see you in potions class." he said in way of good bye before walking out of the library.

"Thank you." She said gratefully when the doors closed behind Blaise and Ron and Harry sat down across from her.

"You're welcome." Harry answered before opening the charms book he held in his hands and asking her questions about the homework.

They spent the better part of two hours going over the material for charms and another half an hour going over Transfiguration work before they closed their books and walked to the tower.

"I have to go over the potion we are brewing tomorrow and you could study with me if you'd like." She offered as she sat at a table in the common room.

"We can't." Harry answered for Ron and himself.

"Yeah, we can't." Ron confirmed with a nod of his head.

"What do you mean you can't?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"We've got detention." Harry muttered bowing his head.

"You've both gotten detention?" she asked truly surprised. Harry she could understand but how Ron could have gotten one was beyond her.

"I went back." Ron mumbled as he too bowed his head, of course not before turning a lovely shade of pink. Hermione fought not laugh but failed and earned a glare from Ron. "I didn't think he'd actually check to see if anyone was still there." he defended himself.

"Well honestly, Ron, when was the last time you've heard Professor Snape make an empty threat?" Hermione asked, throwing her hands up in defeat. It was disheartening to think her friends had come so far in their schooling and had very little to show for it.

"He said he would see to it that I would be out of Hogwarts by seventh year." The red head said with a triumphant grin after having proved his friend wrong.

"He didn't say that directly to you, Ron. He muttered that under his breath as he was walking by you during sixth year. It doesn't count because you weren't supposed to hear it." She dismissed with a sigh.

"It doesn't matter that he didn't say it to me the point is he said it." Ron defended when she tore a hole in his story. "Right Harry?"

The dark haired boy in question cringed and sighed while hanging his head again. "Why did you bring me into it?" he groused, his gaze staying on the floor as he shuffled his feet.

"You're always involved in our conversations." Ron explained with a shrug.

"You do have a point, Ron." He stated, his head still bowed and Hermione swore she saw him flinch.

"See, even Harry agrees with me."

"That's because you dragged him into it." She said with a scoff. "Isn't that right Harry?" she asked in an exaggerated tone, her eyes fixed on his every move.

"Harry, isn't it time for your detention?" Neville asked from across the room and if Hermione didn't know better she'd bet her addition of "Hogwarts: A History" that they practiced the diversion.

"I think it is." Harry said with relief evident in his voice as his head shot up to the large clock placed above the mantel. "Come on, Ron." He said quickly when the red head seemed to be opening his mouth to make a comment.

Hermione watched as her two best friends walked out of the common room while shaking her head before she walked to an almost empty table in the corner of the common room. She waved hello to two first years and hid a smile when their eyes widened comically and one actually looked behind himself to make sure she was waving to him. They both fidgeted before they gave her a serious look from across the table.

"You are Hermione Granger." The bolder of the two stated with a bit of awe in his voice, something that had her fighting back another grin.

"That's right." She confirmed and watched as the talker looked at his friend and mouthed 'I told you so'.

"Are you muggleborn?"

She answered that question with a nod and watched in great amusement as the speaker of the pair gave another smug look to the silent boy sitting beside him. The boy on the receiving end of the smirk rolled his eyes and looked at the wall.

"Did you have Professor Snape?"

"Yes and I still have him." She answered with a smile at the Professor that was in front of Snape. Harry and Ron hadn't gotten to all of the first years, it seemed.

"Does he get any better?" That question was from the silent partner who was now focused on Hermione.

"He gets better if you get better." She answered after some thought, now glad that Harry and Ron were at detention. They would have disagreed with her instantly and gone into a rant about their punishments, most of which were their faults.

"I told you not to listen to them." The now talkative boy shot at his friend who looked very relieved by her answer.

"'Them' who?" she asked with a good idea of the answer.

"Harry Potter and Ron Weasely, you know about Harry Potter, right?" They explained and gave her a funny look when her smile returned.

"Yes, I have heard of Harry Potter but you should listen to him. He's just sore that he received a detention from Professor Snape." She warned the two, who nodded and excused themselves to go to the first year boys' dormitory.

Hermione watched them walk up the steps and sighed. They reminded her of Harry and Ron except they had actually listened to her when she said something. Sending a silent prayer for the prefects and Heads to come while the two went through their years she stood up and walked up the stairs to her bedroom, admitting that she was a wee bit happy that Harry and Ron had detention. It wasn't that she condoned them being in trouble but she liked having time to herself even if that wasn't the original plan.

"I thought you'd never get here." Ginny Weasely whined from the bed as soon as Hermione had closed the door behind her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she closed her eyes and leaned back against the door, letting her head fall back with a thud against it.

"Well were else should I be?" the younger girl asked, the 'duh' was silent but the brown haired witch heard it loud and clear.

"In your room maybe." Hermione answered as she pushed off of the door with her hands and walked over to her desk to pull the chair out. "Were you looking through my desk?" she asked when she noticed a few pieces of paper on the seat and a few more sticking out of the drawers.

"What else was I supposed to do? You were gone forever." Ginny defended herself with a shrug as she avoided the Head Girls glare by staring at the bedcover under her.

"I told you to let yourself out." Hermione ground out between clenched teeth as she snatched the papers up and opened the drawers to rearrange the once orderly papers.

"I did, you saw me at dinner."

"I didn't think you'd come bac…wait, how did you get back in." she asked as she studied the girl, who turned the same pale red her brother had before his detention.

"I propped the door open with your copy of 'Quidditch Through the Ages'." The youngest Weasley mumbled as she rolled off of the bed and began walked quickly towards the door.

"Stop right there, Ginerva Weasley." Hermione ordered as she stood up and practically flew to the door to intercept the now red Weasley. "You used a book to prop open my door!"

"It's not like you use the book. It was way in the back of the bottom drawer." The girl answered indignantly as she waved her hand in the general direction of the desk.

"It's not that I don't use the book." Hermione said in what she hoped was patient voice. "It's that anyone could have just walked in…anyone!" she stressed as if talking to a child.

"No one knew that I did it so it's pointless to ask the 'what if' questions now." The red head shrugged before she slid past Hermione and was out of the door before the frizzy haired witch could do anything.

"I could have been in Ravenclaw, their all sane there!" she yelled at the door before she stomped her foot on the ground and walked to her bed, flopping down and throwing an arm over her face.

This day got worse and in a hurry. Thank goodness tomorrow was Friday.

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**So? Hate it or love it (the underdogs on top and I'm... srry, it's a wonder I get any work done) let me know either way!**


	3. An Odd Meeting and a Plan

**Hello one and all, I have finally been able to upload the new chapter (I've been trying for three days). I hope you like it.**

**ATTENTION: This has not been looked over by a beta so excuse pleaseany errors.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, J.K. Rowling does. Chracters are given the attitudes that I feel they should have for the story**.

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The weekend had gone quicker than Hermione would have liked but was thankfully uneventful. Now she found herself sitting in Transfiguration class on Monday afternoon. 

"Psst...Hermione." She looked over to see Ron looking up to the front of the classroom before he looked back at her. "What is…?"

"Mr. Weasley, is there something you'd like to share with the class?" Professor McGonagall interrupted.

Ron winced and mumbled 'nothing' before looking down at his desk, his ears pink. Hermione rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the front of the classroom. That was until a piece of folded parchment landed on her desk. She stared at it for a few seconds before her thoughts were interrupted once again with a whisper.

"Open it up."

"Mr. Weasley?"

Hermione bit her lip to hide the smile that threatened to show itself and looked at Ron with a sympathetic look.

"Sorry, professor." He said to his desk.

"mm-hmm." The deputy headmistress said in a disapproving tone before she continued her lecture, though she gave Ron a stern look for the first five minutes as she continued her lecture.

The head girl gave Ron an odd look before she opened the parchment and sighed at the question scrawled onto it. It read:

'_Why is Zabini staring at you?'_

She turned around and looked at the boy in question and was startled to see him look away from her quickly.

"Miss Granger, I'm sorry I haven't been interesting enough to keep you attention."

"I'm sorry, professor." Hermione answered as she felt the blood rushing to her face in embarrassment.

"Because it is Monday I'm willing to forgive you but do not let it happen again, Miss Granger." The professor explained before she, for the third time, continued to speak of the complicated transfiguration that the class would have to complete next week.

Half an hour later Hermione was in the library researching the spell that Professor McGonagall had discussed when the chair from across from her was pulled out, something she was now growing used to.

"Hermione?"

Hermione looked up at the girl across from her and pushed her books aside knowing it was pointless to try to multi-task when she was involved.

"Yes, Ginny?" She answered with a tight smile, not knowing if the youngest Weasley had spoken to her brother or not.

"What is wrong?" the ginger hair girl asked immediately.

"Nothing is wrong with me." Hermione shot back instantly.

"Are you sure, you seemed to be acting a bit odd just now?"

Hermione silently thanked whoever it was that was listening that she hadn't run into Ron and gave a genuine smile before answering. "I'm sorry; I was trying to figure out the ending of this spell."

"Oh." Ginny answered with a shrug that had Hermione silently sighing with relief. "So did you hear about that Zambia guy?"

"Zambia, is he new?" Hermione asked as she tried to think of so the boy that would match the name, she was coming up with nothing so far.

"You know who he is, 'Mione! You're always in the library with him." Ginny said as she leaned across the table to say the last part quietly.

"Zabini?" Hermione corrected with a roll of her eyes.

"Are you sure? Lavender said it was Zambia." Ginny asked with a questioning look.

"His name is Zabini, Blaise Zabini." Hermione assured her friend.

"Oh, well have you heard about him?" Ginny asked again, her eyes darting around to make sure they were alone.

"No I haven't heard. What has he done now?" the frizzy haired Gryffindor asked when she saw that the girl across from her looked likely to burst if she didn't get whatever she knew out.

"You really haven't heard?" Ginny asked with surprise evident in her voice.

"If you would just tell me than I will have heard."

"He's been telling everyone that he fancies someone in Gryffindor but he's scared to ask her out. It's all over the common room."

"Oh?" Hermione asked with a look she hoped look bored. Her mind raced to figure out who it could be. It could be Lavender but she threw herself at every boy that said hello to her and it couldn't be Ginny, she was Harry's girlfriend. Maybe that was why he was being so…odd towards her he's trying to get on her good side to get one of her friends.

"Who do you think it could be?"

"I don't know, Gin' but may the deity's help whoever it is. He's an odd one." Hermione said with a shrug.

"Mm-hmm. Well, I have to go do some homework to do for Charms; I'll see you later in the common room." Ginny excused herself which made Hermione look at her oddly, not because of what she said but of how she said it. It sounded almost as if she were disappointed.

"Alright, Ginny. I'll see you later." She answered almost cautiously, unable to detect why there had been a sudden shift in her attitude or how to approach it.

Hermione watched as her friend left and then went back to her homework, getting absorbed in her work almost instantly and forgetting the conversation, if they wanted to gossip about Zabini that was their problem. She was interrupted once again by the chair across from her becoming occupied once again.

"What else, Ginny?" Hermione asked without looking up.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you but not only am I not Ginny, I do not know who this Ginny is." A deep voice corrected her with a chuckle.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione looked up and asked the smirking Blaise Zabini who sat across from her.

"From what I recall the library is a public place."

"Fine, then what are you doing at this table?" she asked through clenched teeth and wishing that it had been Ginny across from her again even with her odd behavior.

"I also don't recall being able to call a table in said public place yours."

After a deep breath Hermione forced herself to return to her work to finish as quickly as possible.

"What are you working on?"

"schoolwork." She said shortly.

"Which class?"

"I'm trying to study."

"I just asked which class you were studying for."

"If I tell you will you leave me alone?"

"I make no promises." He answered with a shrug and a smirk.

"Transfiguration."

"Not your favorite class, I'm assuming." Blaise said sympathetically.

"Why would you say that?"

"Well your acting as if you'd rather be doing anything else than what you're doing now."

"No, I love Transfiguration." Hermione snapped and raised an eyebrow as he figured out what she meant.

"If one didn't know better they would think that was intended to be an insult." He said as he shook his finger at her.

"Really?" Hermione asked in mock innocence.

"You're claws are rather dull, kitten."

"Don't call me kitten, you loon." Hermione ordered as she slammed the book closed and glared.

"I'm not a Ravenclaw so your pet name for me is completely unfitting." Blaise said with a smile he tried to contain.

"Not that I want to know but what are you talking about?"

"You just contradicted yourself, you know." The Italian boy said with a raised eyebrow before he answered. "You are a Gryffindor, Hermione, and I am a Slytherin. A kitten is the offspring of a cat which is a relative to a Lion which, if you didn't know, is the mascot of the Gryffindor House. I think the pet name snake would be in order."

"Only you could come up with something so odd. And stop with the 'pet name' business, people might get the wrong idea."

"Or they might get the right idea." That phrase was said as he wiggled his eyebrows at her.

"Why are you doing this?" Hermione asked as she felt a headache begin to build.

"I am sure I don't know what you are talking about." He said as he rested his elbow on the table and placed his chin in his hand.

"Why are you here?" she asked with a sigh at his deliberate obtuseness.

"Because I want to talk to you." He answered with a shrug and a lazy smile, although it was ruined by half of his face being pressed into his hand.

"Not that, why are you talking to me at all? If you want to talk to Lavender or Hannah just do it. Don't use me to get to someone else." She snapped before she stood up and left the library.

She was just down the hallway when she realized she'd forgotten her bag and was just ready to turn back when she felt someone put their arm through hers and lead her away from the library.

"Excuse me I need to do something." She said as she tried, without success, to pull her arm free.

"Is this what you need to do?"

Blaise held up her bag while still holding onto her arm. She looked at the bag and muttered a yes before trying to pull away again.

"Stop trying to get away, it's pointless. I outweigh you and run faster." He threatened with a pleasant smile before he continued. "Now what is this about me using you to get to other girls?" he asked as his tone turned to confusion rather than smugness.

"It's all around school so you can stop pretending you have no idea what I'm talking about."

"I would like to pretend that I have an idea as to what you are talking about."

"Can you please let me go?" she asked as she failed once again in freeing her arm.

"Of course I will let you go. As soon as we talk about what ever it is that you blurted out about me before your rather rude exit." The Italian boy said with an overly patient smile on his face as if he were dealing with a child.

"Where are we going?" she asked after a lengthy silence and an uncessecary amount of walking in her opinion.

"'È qui, a destra. Non…dov'è?" he was muttering to himself while he practically dragged her behind him.

"What are you saying? Where are we going?" she demanded, as she stopped in the hallway. She gave a small smile of satisfaction when he stopped as well and looked back at her with a slightly annoyed

"Curiosity killed the cat, kitten." He answered with a smirk.

"I am not a kitten."

"Do we have to go through this again?" he asked with a sigh, although the smirk returned with a vengeance as he began leading her down the hallway again. "You are a Gryffindor and the Gryffindor mascot is a…"

"Oh shut up."

"I was merely explaining why you are a kitten. Here we are." He said with a smile that had Hermione worried. She looked around but looked back at him in shock at his next words. "Doxie Proxie."

"How did you get the password?" she asked in shock as he led her through the short hallway that opened up into the Heads common room.

"We all have our secrets." Was his only answer.

She sat in her regular chair and stared at the fire while the boy that had taken a seat in the chair next to her got settled.

"How do you know the password?" she asked again as her gaze turned to him.

"We all have our secrets. It is getting rather troublesome to keep repeating myself, perhaps I should invest in dicta-quills." He mused as he gave a small smile. "Alright, now what is all this rubbish about me wanting someone in the Gryffindor house?" he asked after he pulled himself out of his thoughts.

Hermione looked away from him quickly and stared at the fire once more. It was bad enough that she even knew about it, to talk about it with him would just be disastrous.

"I believe that's called cannibalism and I am sure you don't support that so will you please answer me, Bella?" he asked and she could hear the grin on his face.

"What on earth are you talking about?" she asked although she knew it was a mistake to show interest as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Well I am quite certain the phrase is 'cats' got your tongue' and because you are a Gryffindor and have the widely known pet name of kitten it is fare to say that it is a form of cannibalism." He explained as if she'd asked about the weather.

"There are groups for people like you, you know?" she asked as she looked back at him. "They all get matching white coats that allow you to hug yourself and you get your own private room with soft walls."

"That does sound interesting but I'd much rather talk about my personal affairs."

"Is it impossible for you to stay on one topic for more than a few seconds?" she asked as she avoided the subject for a few seconds.

"I would say that we have the same problem but we've dealt with it well enough so far that I think that we can work through it. Now about me wanting to date Lavender?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Hermione...you know you want to ask me, you are to curious not to want to get the information from the source."

"I am not nosy." She defended as she threw him a wounded expression.

"I never said you were nosy, merely curious." He corrected her while shaking his finger at her. "Now come on, out with it."

"Out with what?" she asked with an innocent expression. She knew she was being childish but this subject didn't sit well with her for some reason and she didn't want to discuss it with him of all people.

"Playing dumb doesn't suit you, Hermione. Now tell me or I will tell McGonagall who broke into the library." He threatened with a practiced ease.

"You wouldn't dare." She gasped.

"'Deputy-Headmistress, I saw the books laying about the Heads common room. I didn't realize that they were the books until I asked Madame Pince for the list of books for Theodore.'" He said this speech as if he'd had it prepared for some time and even had a look of innocence that almost fooled her, almost.

"You are a snake." She hissed with narrowed eyes.

"Now you've gotten an appropriate pet name for me."

"There are you pet names between us." She denied immediately.

"mmm." He answered with a smile before he asked his question again. "What were you talking about in the library?"

"There is a rumor going around that you fancy a girl in Gryffindor and because you are my Potions partner and stalking me people seem to think that you are using me to get to whoever it is." Hermione explained after a silence that stretched for a few minutes.

"Really? I love it when I am finally let in on my private life. When do you think you can find out who I fancy? I am dying to know."

Hermione gave him an odd look but shut her mouth.

"Come on now, don't mussel up on me now." He said with a smirk that made Hermione laugh. "What is so funny?"

"'Mussel up'? What on earth is that?" she asked through her giggles.

"It's a muggle phrase." He defended himself with a defiant look on his face.

"That's odd, I've never heard it. Now I have heard clam up." She said while she tried to control her now involuntary laughter.

"Clam up?" he asked although it sounded to Hermione as if he wanted to test it out rather than ask her if she were correct. "They should both be valid." He informed her after he thought over what she had said.

Hermione rolled her eyes but gave a nod of her head none the less.

"Now, who did you hear that tale from?"

"You really must try to stay on topic." Hermione advised as she kept quiet about her source.

"It was one of the Gryffindor four, wasn't it?" he asked even as he nodded. "I thought it would be one of them."

"Who on earth are the Gryffindor four?" she asked with genuine curiosity.

"I'm sorry; you're used to the trio. I am sorry to say that you are not involved in the Gryffindor four. Potter, Weasley one and two and Longbottom." He clarified for her. "They seem to think that it is their business to know everyone else's'."

Hermione thought about what he had told her for a few seconds before answering. "Why should I tell you?" She asked.

"That is a good question." He acknowledged with a nod.

"Why thank you." She said sarcastically.

"Oh, it's no problem." He answered with a wave of his hand. "Who told you?" he asked again.

"You are horrible at subtlety." She informed him with a small smile.

"I feel the opposite but we will deal with that at another time." He dismissed the statement with a wave of his hand before he stood and began to pace. "I have a plan and I need your involvement in order for it to work."

"Why should I help you?"

"Because I have the feeling that they are trying to get into your head, not mine." He answered with a shrug.

"What on earth are you talking about?" she asked with anger growing and evident in her voice.

"I have a plan but it won't work unless you are on board with me." He explained as he paced.

"I think you're crazy." She said with a scoff.

"Just listen to what is said around you when you are with your friends. If you don't hear anything odd then listen when they don't think you are around."

"You're asking me to spy on my friends?" she said with indignation in her voice.

"Just do it, you want to find out what is going on as much as I do."

"Who says I do?" she asked as she raised her chin defiantly.

"Past experiences say that you do." He answered as he gave her a droll stare. "Just do what I say. I'll explain it all to you tomorrow but I have to think about it tonight to get the details straight."

Hermione watched as he walked out of the door and sat back to watch the fire. She did want to know what was going on but if it meant working with Blaise she would have to think about it.

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**Did you like the chapter? I know some might think it's a bit odd but it is going somewhere so never fear.**

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	4. Spy Games and Four Feet

**Disclaimer: No, it hasn't changed since last time, I do not own anything.**

**It is un-betad so please excuse errors. **

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed, hopefully the oddness of the last chapter will be explained in this one!**

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Despite the fact that she didn't trust the snake Hermione listened to the conversations going on around her but found nothing out of the ordinary and began to sit behind them when they were all talking in the common room, not to spy technically.

"I still think something is going on. He's been looking at her over the past few weeks."

"I know but when I asked her about him she didn't react any special way." Ginny answered her brother.

"When did you ask her?" Harry asked his girlfriend.

It was silent for a moment and Hermione thought that they had found out she was settled in the chair in the corner near their table.

"I don't know, about a week ago. We were at the library and almost as soon as I left he went in."

"Did he sit with her?" Ron asked almost immediately after Ginny answered the question.

"I don't know. I couldn't go back in without her getting suspicious."

Hermione's mind raced as she recalled the day the red head spoke of and wanted to slap herself for not up on it. Ginny must have said his name wrong on purpose.

"I still don't think we should be doing this." It was Neville who said just when Hermione had given up hope that anyone was on her side. "It's wrong; we should just ask her if she's interested in him."

Her mouth dropped open as he finished his statement and she was tempted to turn around and give them each a tongue lashing when Harry spoke up.

"I don't even know why we're doing this. Hermione couldn't be interested in a Slytherin; it would be…un-Hermione like."

"I know but you have to admit she has been acting weird around him lately and he's always following her around." Ron said.

"Yeah, Harry. He looks like a lost pup following behind her." Ginny confirmed her bothers observations quickly.

Hermione pressed herself back into to the chair she sat in to stop herself from jumping up and rounding on the 'Gryffindor Four'. 'A lost pup, honestly' she thought with an eye roll.

"Should we tell her to look out, just in case?" Ginny asked into silence.

"Of course we should. What if he corners her one day and we're not there?" Ron said as soon as the words left Ginny's mouth.

"We could just be imagining things. Why should we get her back up about something if we might be wrong?" Harry reasoned while he earned points with Hermione for thinking rationally. Of course as he finished his thought the points were canceled out. "She would just freak out anyway; you know how she can get."

She didn't feel any better when the other three occupants of the table agreed. She wanted to leave and go to the library, pretend she'd never listened in on them, but knew she couldn't because then they would know she had been there the whole time.

"I think I'm going to go up now, Lavender just Witch Weekly from her mum and there's an article I've wanted to read." Ginny excused herself.

Hermione listened as the boys called goodbye and waited for them to leave as well. She didn't have to wait long.

"I got the new Chuddley Cannon's magazine in today." Ron announced after the three talked quietly for a few minutes.

"I thought you would have given up on them when they lost to the Ashwinders." Harry teased.

"It wasn't a fair game." Ron defended his favorite team quickly.

"The Ashwinders hadn't won a game for three years before they played the Cannon's." Neville reminded the red head.

"Shove off." Ron answered sulkily as Hermione heard their chairs slide across the rug under the table as they stood up. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Ron's voice fade up the steps that led to the boys' dormitory.

She stood up and made her way towards the door.

"Hey, Hermione." Dean called from across the room when she was at the door.

"Hello, Dean." She called back with a nod and a small wave before she turned and walked out of the common room.

No wonder Ginny had been acting weird at the library last week, she thought Hermione fancied Blaise. The frazzled head girl thought of the conversation that Ginny had brought up and felt like a dolt, how could she not picked up on it. The younger girl must have gotten his name wrong on purpose. And when Hermione had seemed uninterested she looked disappointed. 'Very curious indeed', Hermione thought.

"I was wondering when you were going to get here." An accented voice said lazily as she settled into a chair at what she considered her table in the library.

"Are you stalking me?" she asked to the boy that now sat beside her.

"Now, now, don't get your back up."

"Shove off." She said as she gave him a hard stare. She couldn't believe he had caught onto something she hadn't.

"That wasn't very nice." He said with a wink.

She felt her cheeks heat and quickly stood up, almost knocking the chair over in her haste, and walked to the shelves to find something to read.

"So have you found anything out?"

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice right by her ear and turned around to see his smirking face. She sighed and knew he had been right. What was worse was he knew that she knew.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said although he looked anything but sorry.

"Do you have to be so close?" she asked before she moved to the right to try to walk past him only to be brought up short when he moved to his right to block her.

"I don't think I am too close to you, though I could be if you'd like." He said as he wriggled his eyebrows at her.

"Honestly." She muttered before she turned around and walked away from him.

"Don't be like that. I would like to know what you've found out. You wouldn't be so jumpy if you hadn't found anything." He reasoned as he followed her down the isle.

She turned to the left when she got to the end of the isle and went to the table she had vacated not even five minutes before.

"So?" he tried to coax with a charming smile.

"What do you want to know?" she asked when he slid a book in front of her, a peace offer.

"Your innocence isn't believable."

"Is this going somewhere?"

"You know perfectly well where this is going now tell me what you've found out." Blaise said in a tone she'd never heard him use before, almost as if he were annoyed.

"sorry." She apologized before she slid the book closer to her and opened it up to read the title page. "They think that you are interested in me." She said when he shrugged off her apology.

"That's all you've found out?" he asked as if he'd already heard the news years ago.

"They want to know if I am interested in you. That's why Ginny was acting so weird last week when she met me at the library. That's why she acted funny in my room too" Hermione said quietly with surprise.

"_Are_ you interested in me?" He asked as he leaned forward to hear her better.

"Of course not." She denied with a snort of laughter which earned a glare from Madam Pince and a sigh from Blaise.

"So they think that I am interested in you." He said with a smirk as he waited for Hermione's nod before he continued. "And they also think that you are interested in me."

"That seems to be the gist, yes." Hermione nodded with a heavy sigh.

"Well I can understand why you would be interested in me but I don't see how I fit into their scheme." Blaise said after he thought for a few minutes.

"Ron thinks that you want to get back at Gryffindor and that is the only possible way you could get them back."

"What did the idiot do to me?"

"He is not an idiot." Hermione snapped as she leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Alright, I will leave it be. Now about the Weasley girl being in your room…" he began with a raised eyebrow.

"She came to visit me to visit me in my dorm room and acted strangely." Hermione explained without hesitation as she tried to think of any other time the girl had acted weirdly.

"So she was in your room?" he asked as if he hadn't heard her the first time.

"I just said so." She answered with a look that left the 'duh' unsaid before she went back to her thoughts.

"Was she ever in there alone?"

"What?" she asked as she shook her head slightly to clear it.

"Was she ever alone in your room?" he asked slowly and as loudly as he could without a stern look from Madam Pince.

"Yes, I had to meet Theodore that day so I just told her to let herself out." She explained warily.

"Do you keep a diary or journal?" he asked from out of the blue.

"What on earth does me keeping a diary have to do with this?" Hermione asked now truly confused as to where the conversation was going.

"Do you?"

"It is none of your business."

"Did you find anything out of place when you went back to your dorm room?" Blaise continued the odd questions.

"I don't think so, she was still there but only because she'd propped the door open." She knew she had no reason to tell him this but she was now curious to see what connections he saw that she didn't.

"Does she usually do that?" he asked as he leaned back in his chair and threw and arm over the back of it.

"No."

"Did she go through your drawers at all?"

"How on earth could I know that?"

"You didn't notice anything out of place when you went to get your diary?" he asked.

"No, I…I do not have a diary and even if I did it would be none of your concern." She said through clenched teeth.

"So nothing was out of place?"

Hermione opened her mouth to answer 'no' but stopped herself. Ginny _had_ gone through her drawers. Ginny had even said that she had gone through her drawers, that was how she found Quidditch through the Ages.

"She did, didn't she?" The smug voice of the Slytherin across the table said at her silence.

"She said she was looking for…she never said what she was looking for." Hermione answered in shock. Could Ginny have looked through her drawers to find her diary?

"I was right?"

"There's no need to gloat."

"They think that we are dating." He stated with a smile.

"That is ridiculous." She scoffed even as she came to the same conclusion.

"No it's not. I've been thinking about it since last week. It makes perfect sense once you think about it, they are going through your things, spying on you and they are talking about you behind your back."

He had a point, not that she knew where he wanted to go with it. She looked at him as he thought whatever idea he had mapped out in his mind. He was good looking, if you liked the pretty boy kind of look.

"What do you plan to do?" she asked after a lengthy silence.

"As I said before, I have a plan that I would need your help with." He answered cryptically.

"If you want my help I need to know what you plan to do."

"If I tell you, you'll have to help me. You couldn't laugh it off." He said after he studied her for a few seconds.

"That doesn't sound promising."

"It would be harder on me than it would be on you."

"What would be harder on you?" she asked as she tried to guess his plan.

"Do you agree to help me?" he asked with a serious look.

Hermione bit her lip as she thought about his question. She was very curious to know what he had planed but if it was so serious that he wouldn't tell her unless she agreed to it set her on edge. Slowly, her eyes closed, she nodded her head in agreement. When he was silent she opened her eyes to look at him to find his eyes were trained on her face.

"I've agreed."

"I saw that." He replied steadily.

"Are you going to tell me what, exactly, I have agreed to?" she asked impatiently.

"I don't know if I should tell you just yet."

"Well then I don't want to go along with your plan anymore." She reasoned.

"I don't accept that."

"Ha, that's funny; I don't remember asking for your acceptance."

"I told you that once you agreed you couldn't back out."

"No, you said I couldn't back out if you told me, which you haven't." Hermione corrected the smug boy across from her.

She watched as his face took on a thoughtful expression and began to get a bit nervous when a smile graced his face.

"We are going to become a couple."

"What?" she squeaked, whatever thoughts that were in her head before his statement now gone.

He looked around the library to make sure there was no one around them and gave her a warning look before he continued.

"We have to go somewhere more private to talk about this." He informed her before he stood up and walked around the table to help her up.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she tried to pull her arm out of his grip while she still sat.

"Just stand up and follow me." He said quietly.

"Why should…." She hissed.

"There are two pairs of shoes by the shelf nearest us. I don't think that shoes have started walking on their own and it is a well known fact that Potter has an invisibility cloak. We've already discussed that you have a gift for reading between the lines." He whispered to her as he leaned closer to her.

"Where?" Hermione turned her head quickly only to have her chin caught between Blaise's fingers and her head forcibly turned back towards him.

"You might as well wave if you look over there now."

Hermione resisted the urge to pull her face out of his hand and looked out of the corner of her eye to where Blaise had nodded. For her effort she saw a mass of brown curls that had been thrown over her shoulder when she had jerked her head. She cringed a bit when Blaise smoothed her hair away from her face and smiled down at her as he brushed his fingers against her cheek.

"What are you doing?" she asked entranced by his eyes.

"Giving them what they want."

She blinked at his answer and stood up quickly which caused him to take a quick step back.

"Come on." She said crossly and grabbed his hand to pull him out of the library.

"Yes, let's go somewhere more private." He said louder than he would have had they been alone.

She heard a gasp and the rustle of material before there was silence. A look at Blaise confirmed he too had heard the noise as well. The doors weren't fully closed behind them when Hermione heard Ron's voice almost yell 'did you see the way he pushed the hair out of her face?'

"I think we have their attention now." Blaise said with confidence in his voice

"We had their attention before this." She reminded him slowly as he led the way to the Head's common room.

"Yes, that is true." He confirmed with a nod of his head. "But this time the ball is in our pitch." He finished with a smirk.

"court." She sighed when they were in front of the tapestry.

"What?" he asked before he said the password.

"It is 'the ball is in your court', not pitch."

* * *

**He he, so how was it? Leave a review and let me know!**


	5. Lets keep this between us

**Thank you to everyone who reviewed!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything...still**

* * *

Hermione looked over her shoulder for what seemed like the hundredth time in fifteen minutes only to have Blaise squeeze her tighter to his side. She looked forward and scowled up at him and bit her lip when he simply smiled at her, making sure that Harry and Ron, who had followed them since the new 'couple' left the Heads' common room under the invisibility cloak, could see his action.

"Let's go to Hogsmeade this weekend. It's going to be a nice day, no rain," he said after they had walked the hallways in silence for a few minutes.

"I have homework," she replied quickly, too quickly, it seemed, for Blaise who shot her a warning look. ...she replied quickly. It seemed to be too quickly for Blaise, who shot her a warning look. Okay, I think this still sounds pretty awkward. But I can't come up with anything better. You may want to see if anyone else can.

"I'm sure you can make time," he coaxed with a lazy smile and a less-than-romantic squeeze.

She ground her teeth and stared straight ahead. He was infuriating.

"I'll keep you company in the common room after we get back."

"I do not need help with my homework, thank you very much," she huffed as she tried to shake his arm off

"I never said you did," he said tightly as he began to practically drag her down the hallway. "Besides, who said I was going to help?" he asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

"You're disgusting," she tsked with a roll of her eyes.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you didn't like me."

"If I knew better, I'd say I didn't either," she muttered as they got to the library doors.

"What was that, love?"

Hermione stopped dead and choked on the breath she had just drawn. 'Love'? He was taking this a bit too far for her.

"Will you let me...?" started Hermione just as Blaise said "I don't think that..." Blaise cut her off as he raised his voice. "we should tell anyone about us until next month. We should have some time together, just the two of us, before we share our relationship with our friends."

She felt her mouth drop but for the life of her couldn't close it. She heard a muffled oath from behind them and was tempted to turn around, but she found herself whisked into the library.

"Are you mad?" she demanded when the doors closed behind them.

"I was going to ask you the same thing!" Blaise countered, and Hermione noticed he had the nerve to look outraged at her.

"Me?" she asked, stunned, as she pulled herself away from him and stared at him wide-eyed.

"'I have homework'?" he asked in a voice that Hermione could only guess was supposed to sound like her. "What was that? If we're going to make them believe that we're going out you have to at least act like you can tolerate being in the same room as me!"

"I didn't know what I was agreeing to when I did. You can't actually expect me to go along with such an idiotic idea?" she asked as she made her way to the corner of the library farthest from the door.

"I think we've gone through this before, and I refuse to go over something that hasn't changed," he snapped as he followed her into the seldom seen aisle of the library.

"Do you honestly think your plan is going to work?" she said as a small dusty table came into view. She had used the table in her third year to hide the amount of homework she had from Harry and Ron. They would have just gone into the library and done a quick sweep and then left.

"Why wouldn't it work? You've had so many years of acting I don't think it will be hard to convince people that we're madly in love," he said defensively, his male pride stung, as he walked to the table and pulled out a chair for her to sit in.

"What do you mean 'years of acting'?" she growled at him as she yanked out the seat opposite of him.

He raised an eyebrow at her defiant move and took the seat himself. "You've been lying to teachers, and getting away with it I might add, for the past seven years. You even have Snape second guessing himself when he accuses you of something," he muttered with disgust evident in his voice.

"Fine, you've established that I can get people to believe me, but what about you?" she asked, a smile finally graced her lips as she asked a question he hadn't expected.

"What about me?" he asked with a shrug.

"Do you honestly think your friends aren't going to figure it out?" she asked slowly.

"I might have already talked it over with them," he threw out, a smug smile now on his face as he quickly regained control over the situation.

Hermione didn't have an answer for that and pursed her lips.

"I haven't," he said after she had focused her gaze on the wall just beyond his shoulder. "I don't speak much, so they won't say anything," he answered her honestly.

"Figures," she muttered darkly, which earned a chuckle from the Italian boy sitting across from her.

"And what, may I ask, is that supposed to mean?" he asked as a smile lingered on his face.

"The one time anti-social behavior has an actual advantage is now," she explained bitterly.

"You are a dramatic one, aren't you?" he asked with a sigh, as if she bored him.

"That wasn't dramatics; that was a valid thought."

He stared at her for a long second and then laughed quietly to himself. Hermione hoped his spurt of amusement was brought on because he realized how insane his plan was but as he sobered Hermione doubted that was the case.

"We could fool anyone," he said with a nod.

She looked at him in disbelief and rolled her eyes before asking, "Haven't you heard a word I've said?"

"I have, but I haven't heard a valid excuse."

"It's not an excuse, no one would believe us," she said, exasperated.

"Nothing is impossible, isn't that what you Gryffindors always say before doing something insanely stupid?" he asked with a thoughtful expression on his face. She almost expected him to tap his chin and then pull out his pipe for a smoke soon.

"Ha ha, that is not funny," she said with sarcasm heavy in her voice.

"See, that's the thing I don't get about Muggles. You laugh at something, but then claim it isn't funny in the next breath."

"Oh, is that the reason you don't like Muggles?" she asked flatly. "Because we have an odd sense of humor. Here I thought it was the pathetic coward you were devoted to who can't admit to being beaten."

"You know nothing about me and with whom my loyalties lie. It would be in your best interest to tread lightly where that matter is concerned," he said calmly but with a look in his eyes that made her fidget in her seat and break eye contact.

She looked down at the table before she looked towards the only way out of their corner, the aisle of untouched books. She shouldn't have said anything about Voldemort she knew it was childish, but she had been so sure she was right. He was always in or Malfoy's company and he had never been seen talking to Muggleborns so she had just assumed.

"I'm sorry; I just assu…"

"Assumed, I got that," he bit out moodily.

"I said I was sorry, there's no need to be upset about it," she shot back as she felt her remorse slip away.

"No need to get upset? You just accused me of being a Death Eater in training! If you said that to my face there's no guessing what you've said behind my back."

"I did not call you a Death Eater in training," she defended instantly.

"Oh, I'm sorry. What did you mean when you said that I devote my loyalty to…Him?" He Him?" he asked in mock confusion, aiming a glare at her as he finished his question.

That stopped her. She had meant just that, but she didn't want him to know that; he would use it against her and make her life hell, more so than he was trying to do now. He let out a disgusted sigh, pushed back from the table, and began to pace the small amount of floor in their corner. She watched as he muttered to himself and threw her glares every so often.

"Alright, maybe I jumped to conclusions," she ground out when he had been pacing and muttering for what seemed like hours.

"Maybe?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as he stopped and looked at her.

"Fine, I did jump to conclusions." She felt like the words were ripped out of her and regretted them almost instantly as a smug look came over his face.

"And you didn't burst into flames," he said in shock, although she suspected he wasn't entirely sincere; it might have been the roll of his eyes or overly dramatic gasp.

"That's not funny."

"It was a valid thought," he mimicked with a smirk.

You seem to bounce from emotion to emotions emotion rather quickly," she observed, shooting him a questioning look.

"You learn things in an infamous House," he said nonchalantly.

"I suppose you would."

"Just like Gryffindors have learned to cling to emotions as if they were lifeblood," he said as he pulled out the seat he had vacated earlier and sat down.

Hermione gasped at his comparison and opened her mouth to argue when he reached across the table and covered her mouth with his hand. She took a deep breath through her nose and instantly wished she hadn't. He smelled like the outdoors, not the sweaty 'I've-just-rolled-in-dirt' smell that always clung to Ron, but that of freshly cut grass or after a heavy rainstorm. . It reminded her of a picnic her father had planned as a surprise to for her mum in the middle of summer. They had gone out to the perfect spot and were in the middle of their lunch when it down-poured. They had raced to the car to wait out the rain, rolling down the windows and eating in the vehicle once it calmed down. It was one of the few memories she had of her childhood that didn't involve a new book or something new learned in a class. She furrowed her brow as she tried to figure out how he had picked up the sent.

"What?" he asked at her odd look.

"Nothing," she said as she pulled her head away from his hand. "Why did you do that?" she asked when her senses came back to her.

"You were going to go on a rant about how wrong I am and that Gryffindors don't show emotions anymore than anyone else in school. Then I would have brought up the firing of Trelawney," he explained with a certainty that annoyed her.

"I didn't care about that daffy woman getting let go," Hermione reminded him, although she was sure this was news to him.

"I didn't say you wore your emotions on your sleeve but your housemates went off the deep end if you didn't notice. Honestly, wearing all black then refusing to eat until she was re-instated. How is that not emotional?" he scoffed.

"Just because two people did that doesn't mean that they were 'taught' to be emotional," Hermione said defensively of her housemates, although Lavender's actions had caused Hermione to roll her eyes and ignore the girl.

"It was half of the lower years of Gryffindor that were recruited to the cause by that annoying chit Violet."

"Lavender," Hermione corrected while she hide a smile at the thought of what Lavender would do if she knew that Blaise, the hot boy in school (according to her, at least), didn't know her name.

"They're both flowers."

They talked for an hour, then Hermione decided it was time to go back to the Gryffindor common room.

"Hold on, I'll walk you," he ordered as he pushed his chair in and followed after her.

She had already made it halfway to the main section of the library when he caught up to her and grabbed her hand.

"Slow down," he said when she continued down the aisle at a steady pace.

"Maybe you should speed up."

She let out a frustrated sigh when he let go of her hand to grab her arm and bring her to a stop. He smiled at her when she turned around to glare at him and let his hand slide down her arm to take her hand.

"What?"

"You never answered me."

"Answered what?"

"We won't tell anyone for a month or two," he said with a lazy smile while he raised a hand and tugged a curl that fell into her face.

"Will you stop that?" she asked as she batted his hand away from her face.

"Fine, we'll talk about it this weekend," he sighed before he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers.

He raised his head up, gave her another smile, and walked away, into the library. She looked after him and followed suit after her cheeks cooled down and she was sure her legs would support her while she walked. 'It wasn't even a real kiss,' she thought with a tsk. 'Honestly'.

"Oh, hey, 'Mione," Ron said as he walked out of an aisle in front of her. He looked guilty, and because she had been given the look so many times before, she would bet he had watched what had just happened between Blaise and her.

"Ron," she said with a smile and a nod.

"So where were you? We've been looking all over for you," he asked with a nod to the aisle he'd just left.

"We?" she asked as she gave him an odd look.

"Harry and me," he clarified, waving Harry into out of the aisle.

Hermione gave them both suspicious looks as Harry came out of the aisle with a guilty look on his face. She watched as he slung a backpack over his shoulder and glared at Ron, who shrugged.

"What happened?" she asked as curiosity got the best of her.

"Nothing, why?" Ron asked dumbly.

"You've been looking for me all day, there has to be a reason," she explained slowly.

"Oh, um…" Ron looked at Harry for help.

"We…we wanted help with our potions work," Harry stuttered out while Ron nodded like a loon to confirm.

"We don't have potions work, there's a test on Thursday."

"Oh, that's right. See Harry, I told you we shouldn't have worried so much," Ron said with a pained laugh which looked like a grimace when he looked at Harry, who looked rather upset that Ron had said that.

"We have to go see about Quidditch practice," Harry said as an excuse before he grabbed Ron and dragged him out of the library.

"Quidditch practice, I doubt that," Hermione said to herself before she, too, made her way out of library.

The hallways were empty as she made her way to the Gryffindor common room. She sighed as the fat lady told her of the latest gossip and said the password four times before the woman finally took the hint and swung herself open. She walked in and said hello to Seamus and Dean, who were in a deep discussion about the newest WWW product that had just come out, before she walked to the stairwell and up to her room, which was thankfully empty. She went to her bookcase, slid out a paperback romance novel, her guilty pleasure, and jumped into bed to enjoy a bit of pleasure reading. Vane had just revealed his true self to Bride when she was interrupted by a tapping on the small window of her room.

"Damn it," Hermione said out loud before she marked her place and rolled off of her bed and dragged her feet to the window, ready to say a few choice words to the bird that was there when she was brought up short. "Aren't you a beautiful one?" she cooed as she held her hand out to pet the black raven that sat perched on her windowsill.

She had gotten Crookshanks only because her parent's had refused to allow her to have a raven. They had said it would cause unwanted questions in their neighborhood. The raven looked at her with black eyes and stuck out its leg to let her take the attached letter

"Thank you," she said with a smile as she gave the black bird one last stroke before it flew away.

She looked down at the letter and groaned as she saw the script and the color. Harry had written her...a howler.


End file.
